Thursday, July 14, 2011

Weekend Preview 14-17 July

International Friendly
Thailand v Myanmar (Thu)

This is a warm-up for the World Cup qualifier against Palestine next weekend. This will be the first game in charge for new coach, Winfried Schaefer. The game will be played at the new I-Mobile stadium in Buriram.

The pick of the FA cup ties this weekend is Army Utd v Buriram FC. The Army are currently mid-table in the TPL and have no chance of winning the league, and are in no danger of being relegated. They have already been dumped out of the Toyota League Cup so the FA Cup will be the only chance of silverware to reward the newly recruited Army fans. Buriram FC's priority is to win promotion to the top flight. However, this cup tie will give them an ideal opportunity to flex their muscles and show the TPL sides what to expect for next season.

*Edit - The Army v Buriram FC game this Saturday has been cancelled. There is no date as of yet for the rescheduled game.

Two games stand out this weekend. The top 2 of North Bangkok and Kasetsart clash on Saturday while in-form 3rd placed Prachinburi travel to Bangkok to take on a 4th placed Raj Vithi team that has stumbled of late. After this weekend, we should have a clearer picture of the promotion race.
At the other end of the table, bottom placed side Thai Airways Luk Issan will be anxious to win their first league home game of the season against Nontaburi. Likewise, Mapthaput Rayong will hope to break their duck on the road and collect 3 points at Kasem Bundit.